Improvement in preparations for the hair



compound for promoting the growth of hair,

tended that the articles are all equally essen- UNITED? STATES PATENT OFFICE.

VAIR CLIREHUGH, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

IMPROVEMENT IN PREPARATIONS FOR THE HAIR.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 2,551, dated April 11, 1842.

for. restoring it when it hasfalleu ofl', for preventing it turning gray, and forremovingscurt' or dandruff, which compound so formed by me. I denominate Tricopherousf and I do hereby declare that the following is a full and exact description thereof.

In preparing my compound I use the following ingredients, and employ them in the proportions, or nearly in the proportions, herein indicated-that is to say, in preparing a hundred parts of the compound I take, by weight, of highly-rectified alcohol, seventy parts; of Castor-oil, fourteen parts; of cantharides, two parts; of iodine, two parts; of muriate of ammonia, ten parts; and of essence of bergamot, two parts. These ingredients I mix together and agitate the mixture occasionally until the iodine is dissolved, and until time has been allowed for extracting the active principles of the cantharides; and the compound, when poured ofl' clear, is fit for use.

The foregoing recipe gives what I believe, from experience and observation, to lie the best proportion of the respective ingredients; but this will admit of some variation without essentially altering the nature of mycompound. I do not, therefore, intend to limit myself to the precise quantities named; nor is it pretial in giving to the compound its valuable properties. The essence of bergarnot, for example, is used principally for its odor, and any other essence that may be preferred may be substituted for it, or the essence may be altogether omitted. Instead of cantharides, the tincture of cantharides may be used in the proper proportionate quantity.

What I consider the essential ingredients of my compound are the alcohol, the cantharides, and the iodine, and where these three are com-I bined togetherI claim such compound as of my invention, in its use and application to the purpose of preserving, promoting the growth of, and restoring the'hair, and also to prevent its turning gray, and to cleanse the head from scurf or dandrufl'; but although the three articles above named are deemed by me the most important in producing the desired efiect, the compound is greatlyimproved by the addition of the castor-oil and ofthemuriate of ammonia,

and they never will be omitted, excepting for the purpose of sophistication or evasion.

This com pound is most easily applied to parts wherethehairhas been shavedoft',orwhichhave become bald,or nearly so. In allcases,whenitis applied, the skin should be moistened with it, as its useful actionis dependent upon its being applied to the roots of the hair. It should be rubbed in with a hair-brush, the operation being continued for the space of ten or fifteen minutes, observiu g to keep the skin moistened with it during the whole time of rubbing. This may be done most advantageously every night before going to bed.

Having thus fully described the nature of my compound for promoting the groi'vth of-hair, 850., and shown the manner of applying the same, what I claim therein as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

l. The combining together of alcohol, of the active principle of cantharides, and of iodine, substantially in the manner and for the purpose herein set forth. 2. The further combination of muriate of ammonia and of castor-oil, or ofeither of them, with the first-named compound of alcohol, cantharides, and iodine, the respective ingredients being employed in the proportions, or nearly in the proportions, herein designated and made known.

VAIR GLIREEIUGH.

Witnesses:

WARD GIBSON, WM. KEILY. 

